splitter 2.8/177 pre vet major? chance me? Forum

[Artemis14]

Hey I'm a long time lurker, first time poster. I feel like I have a bit of a unique situation, maybe I'm wrong but from the hundreds of topics I've read, I haven't found anything. Starting college, I wanted to go to either vet school or law school. I started at as a pre-vet major, and did decently (3.0-3.5 each semester). Then I hit the physics, organic chem, biochem classes, and did horrible for 2 semesters. After this the law school idea came back into my head. After this semester, I will have two semesters left as an animal science major (I do not plan on extending my graduation due to finances) and I still have a chance to bring up my GPA slightly. I highly doubt I'll get a 3.0, but a 2.9 is possible. I took the LSAT in Feb after about 3 months of serious studying and got a 177. As far as work experience, I worked for the last 3 years through college. Nothing spectacular just some admin assistant at a lawyers office, and at large & small animal vet clinics. A few extracurriculars at my state school... sorority, pre vet club, student gov.

I'm from New Orleans, have great connections to lawyers, big business people, ect in the city so I'm considering Tulane or LSU (possible Loyola only because of conncections) I'm also considering some other schools but only with money, preferrably higher ranked (UVA, Gtown, NU, Vandy?) Many lawyers I've talked to (relatives & friends) have highly suggested law school, despite what I have heard from my friend in law school. She keeps telling me it is pretty rough as far as employment goes.

Just any advice would be great. Should I try to retake for a higher LSAT in June? (I know the general consensus is 180 or bust lol)

Thanks!

[cahwc12]

Hey I'm a long time lurker, first time poster. I feel like I have a bit of a unique situation, maybe I'm wrong but from the hundreds of topics I've read, I haven't found anything. Starting college, I wanted to go to either vet school or law school. I started at as a pre-vet major, and did decently (3.0-3.5 each semester). Then I hit the physics, organic chem, biochem classes, and did horrible for 2 semesters. After this the law school idea came back into my head, as not a terrible idea. After this semester, I will have two semesters left as an animal science major (I do not plan on extending my graduation due to finances) and I still have a chance to bring up my GPA slightly. I highly doubt I'll get a 3.0, but a 2.9 is possible. I took the LSAT in Feb after about 3 months of serious studying and got a 177. As far as work experience, I worked for the last 3 years through college due to family financials being pretty bad. Nothing spectacular just some admin assistant at a lawyers office, and at large & small animal vet clinics. A few extracurriculars at my state school... sorority, pre vet club, student gov.

I'm from New Orleans, have great connections to lawyers, big business people, ect in the city so I'm considering Tulane or LSU (possible Loyola only because of conncections) I'm also considering some other schools but only with money, preferrably higher ranked (UVA, Gtown, NU, Vandy?) Many lawyers I've talked to (relatives & friends) have highly suggested law school, despite what I have heard from my friend in law school. She keeps telling me it is pretty rough as far as employment goes.

Just any advice would be great. Should I try to retake for a higher LSAT in June? (I know the general consensus is 180 or bust lol)

Thanks!

I bolded the areas that give pause here (addressed in order):

(1) Your situation is only unique in trivial factors. pre-vet vs pre-med vs women's studies vs whatever. You did poorly, changed majors and have a 2.8 GPA. Don't think of yourself as unique because it will only give you a false perception of your application, which will be based almost exclusively on your GPA/LSAT.

(2) That you bombed technical classes and only then went back to the "law school idea" tells me you're doing it because you can't do something else. This is not a good reason to go to law school.

(3) Make doubly certain your decision to attend law school is not based on lack of finances/options. You'd likely be making a decision similar to the hitmen in Looper except instead of 25 years of delaying reality and enjoying life you'd get three.


Your LSAT is great and above every school's 25th percentile, so retaking isn't going to do anything for you unless you want a shot at perfection just to say you were perfect at something. Regarding law school, retaking a 177 isn't going to help you. Because your GPA is below every reputable school's 25th percentile, this makes you a super splitter. While many schools like to say they consider a hard GPA floor, the fact is that in this climate of shrinking law school apps, a >75th LSAT is worth much more than a <25th GPA hurts, so you might get in to places you shouldn't be otherwise admitted to, but you may not know for sure until after this cycle finishes shaking out. You could very well get into Georgetown with your numbers, but you'd be going at sticker.

LSU is definitely a good option for residents (which it sounds like you are), and that you have connections makes this not a difficult decision if you're committed to staying in the area. The main issue becomes: are you absolutely certain law school is for you? Your friend in law school has much, much, much better insight than all of your relatives and family friends who are in their 40s and 50s because law school was a good investment back then for nearly everyone, and now that's far from the case.

The big decision you need to make is: am I absolutely certain law school is right for me? If so, I think you should weigh the decision to attend T13 at sticker (which itself has a lot of risk) against attending LSU at sticker (much less risk for you), and weigh both of those against just not going to law school.

[TopLawHopeful]

ED UVA or NU + pray

[lmsf]

If you really want law school I suggest delaying graduation so that you could boost up your GPA. I know that you're concerned about finances but increasing your GPA to at least a 3.0 gives you a better shot at T14 and maybe even some scholarship $ with that LSAT score, which could even out the extra $ you spend on an extra year at school. You could also see about taking a semester off from your current school so you don't have to pay tuition, and take a bunch of classes at the local community college (just make sure to do this before you graduate or it won't count toward your LSAC GPA).

Definitely do not retake a 177, that wouldn't even help you at Yale. (And congrats on that score, btw!)

I agree with cahwc12 that your friend at UVA has a much better grip on employment prospects than older lawyers. I've gotten plenty of advice from older lawyers about how a law degree is a golden ticket, yet I know plenty of grads from some of the top schools who are struggling to find jobs. So before choosing law school, make sure that it's really what you want.

[TheBiggerMediocre]

I recommend nursing school its not what you want but I guarantee a better life just make sure they have safety point.

[Artemis14]

I understand from my post my reasonings behind law school were pretty vague. I have been debating between vet school and law school through my college years and after not doing well in my higher science classes I figured law school would be a better fit. I actually did not change majors, pre vet is just a concentration of the animal science degree. I have a year before I apply so I do have time to really think about this decision. I am not going to delay graduation, I can't go to a CC because there really is nothing for me to take. Alli have left is a bunch of upper level animal science specific classes. A few friends that are lawyers (the ones I mentioned that suggested law school) are less than 5 years out from law school yes my relatives are more in their 40s & 50s. I do take their advice with a grain of salt but 5 years out isn't that long... Has the employment for lawyers really dropped that much in a short time?

LSU is my first option but I will def apply to Gtown, UVA, & NU just to see if I can get some money from them. I don't want to do ED, I really don't understand why that is so highly suggested on this forum. I'm new to the application process for law school so maybe that's why.

[Clearly]

As someone who is almost an exact numbers twin, I look forward to seeing your decision play out. I snuck some (really) late apps out just to see if anything sticks, but I'll be applying Sept 1 to all the schools you've already been recommended. Same exact GPA, and you beat me by a point in Feb lol. There is another poster with nearly exact stats who got decent change at NU, and I'd love to pull off the same next cycle. For us, it's UVA (which is still a long shot), NU (which I love), or GULC basically. Here's to hoping splitters keep making progress, and high scores keep dropping in applications! Good luck!

Please don't quote, will likely edit later, thank you.

[Jkeenan68R]

Have you tried the workforce yet? I honestly was completely sold on law school until I got out of the Army and became a technical recruiter. I figured it would give me a decent paycheck and teach me how to market myself better and only planned on doing it short term, until i started hitting my commission. As bad as the legal field is, I honestly am thinking about staying in recruiting since although I am working at minimum 50 hours a week im on pace to clear at least 55k living in very low COL San Antonio.

It's pretty easy to get into recruiting too and if you needed some help i could probably help you considering my company is nationwide.

[sinfiery]

Retake, blanket all the prep companies and ED blueprint.

[dw3]

GPA is gonna hurt you.

[PRgradBYU]

ED UVA or NU + pray

+1. I could imagine NU snatching up that LSAT score to raise its median.

[sublime]

..

[jbagelboy]

Retake, blanket all the prep companies and ED blueprint.

Lol

This would not be the worst career move ive seen here in all honesty. You clearly have a skill -- the LSAT -- and you could market that skill & make good money teaching LSAT prep. Just be sure to do it in a major met area w/ a lot of private students since thats where the $$$ is at.

As far as law school vs other "work force" is concerned (besides test prep), your GPA would keep you out of a lot of higher paying jobs anyway; you could be a vetenary technician, but thats not so glorious or well paying. You will have to change your study approach though. If you cant swing a B in o-chem and cell bio, which are heavily memorization and analytic mimetic/memorized structure based subjects, then you might struggle where it counts in law classes, and you cannot risk a bad gpa at a school like LSU.

Strictly admissions-wise, take 4 years of UG (if you are planning on graduating in 3 years, horrible plan... just horrible what a waste) to get your GPA as far over 2.9 as you can, dont fuck up senior year, blanket the T7-20 applying EARLY in the cycle, and make a compelling case for why you would be a good law school student and future attorney.

Raising your grades and staying in school thru senior yr is more important than any other soft at this point, and since you dont need to retake, academics can be your prime focus. Also college is awesome, life after college blows, I dont understand anyone who would want to leave ( if your already a senior than nvm )

[quakeroats]

At first glance, law school seems to win over being a vet. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/busin ... wanted=all

"Nor is there much in the curriculum about the prospects for graduates or the current state of the profession. Neither, say many professors and doctors, looks very promising. The problem is a boom in supply (that is, vets) and a decline in demand (namely, veterinary services). Class sizes have been rising at nearly every school, in some cases by as much as 20 percent in recent years. And the cost of vet school has far outpaced the rate of inflation. It has risen to a median of $63,000 a year for out-of-state tuition, fees and living expenses, according to the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, up 35 percent in the last decade.

This would seem less alarming if vets made more money. But starting salaries have sunk by about 13 percent during the same 10-year period, in inflation-adjusted terms, to $45,575 a year, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. America may be pet-crazed and filled with people eager to buy expensive fetch toys and heated cat beds. But the total population of pets is going down, along with the sums that owners are willing to spend on the health care of their animals, one of the lesser-known casualties of the recession.

Today, the ratio of debt to income for the average new vet is roughly double that of M.D.’s, according to Malcolm Getz, an economist at Vanderbilt University. To practitioners in the field, such numbers are ominous, and they portend lean times for new graduates."

[jbagelboy]

At first glance, law school seems to win over being a vet. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/busin ... wanted=all

"Nor is there much in the curriculum about the prospects for graduates or the current state of the profession. Neither, say many professors and doctors, looks very promising. The problem is a boom in supply (that is, vets) and a decline in demand (namely, veterinary services). Class sizes have been rising at nearly every school, in some cases by as much as 20 percent in recent years. And the cost of vet school has far outpaced the rate of inflation. It has risen to a median of $63,000 a year for out-of-state tuition, fees and living expenses, according to the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, up 35 percent in the last decade.

This would seem less alarming if vets made more money. But starting salaries have sunk by about 13 percent during the same 10-year period, in inflation-adjusted terms, to $45,575 a year, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. America may be pet-crazed and filled with people eager to buy expensive fetch toys and heated cat beds. But the total population of pets is going down, along with the sums that owners are willing to spend on the health care of their animals, one of the lesser-known casualties of the recession.

Today, the ratio of debt to income for the average new vet is roughly double that of M.D.’s, according to Malcolm Getz, an economist at Vanderbilt University. To practitioners in the field, such numbers are ominous, and they portend lean times for new graduates."

Interesting. I did not know this, thanks.

Our vets in OC always seemed to do so well, what with the tens of thousands of $ dog cancer treatments for the wanna-be "desperate housewives" krew n shit ...